Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Because most lung cancer is caused by smoking, it is one of the easiest cancers to prevent. So it is important to stop smoking—or to stop being around someone else’s smoke.

Risk Factors

Age. The average age of people who are diagnosed with lung cancer is 70.

Being exposed to arsenic, asbestos, radioactive dust, radon or radiation

Exposure to second-hand smoke. If you live with a smoker, you have two to three times the risk for lung cancer compared with a person who lives in a nonsmoking environment.

Gender. Men are more likely to develop lung cancer than women.

Race. Black men are more likely to develop lung cancer than men of any other racial group.

Smoking

Prevention

Even if you have smoked a long time, quitting can lower your chances of getting cancer. You also can lower your risk by ending your exposure to second-hand smoke. If you already have lung cancer, quitting makes your treatment work better and can help you live longer.

Symptoms

Early lung cancer doesn't usually cause any symptoms. That’s why we don’t often find it early.
In its advanced stage, cancer may affect how your lungs work. The first signs of lung cancer may include:

Coughing

Feeling short of breath

Having blood in any mucus that you cough up

Wheezing

Lung cancer may spread to the chest and then to other parts of the body. For example, if it spreads to the spine or bones, it may cause pain in the back or other bones or weakness in the arms or legs. If it spreads to the brain, it may cause seizures, headaches or vision changes.

If you have any of these symptoms, call your doctor or make an appointment with The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

Non-smokers get lung cancer, too.

According to the American Cancer Society, every year, about 16,000 to 24,000 Americans die of lung cancer, even though they have never smoked.

Radon exposure is estimated to be the second leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for an estimated 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year (range of 8,000 to 45,000).*

What is radon?
Radon is a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas that is produced by decaying uranium and occurs naturally in soil and rock.